European Biosolutions Coalition

HAPPY BIRTHDAY… 🥳 … to us! Because this weekend, October 26th to be specific, marked exactly 1 year since we formed the European Biosolutions Coalition 💡 But we want to celebrate our birthday with you and share just a few highlights that we treasure. What an eventful year it has been. We’ve grown from an initial 5 partners in the Coalition to 11. We created our very own manifest with policy recommendations and proposals, a glossary and a case catalogue. We saw biosolutions continuing to gain prominence and momentum on the European agenda, culminating in a biotechnology communication from the Commission and most of all: the promise of the EU Biotech Act to come in 2025 ✨ We have achieved so much in a year, because there has been so much to achieve. We’ve been running with 100 km/h to keep moving forward and work towards bringing biosolutions to Europe 🇪🇺🌱 But do you know what the greatest part is? It’s that we have so much fun doing it. We thoroughly enjoy the challenge and we wouldn’t change it for anything. We get to work with incredible colleagues, businesses, universities and partners, that always bring their A-game and are a joy to work with 🤩 There is still so much left for us to achieve. Yet we will remain hopeful, because the biosolutions world is so full of opportunities and holds so much potential 🚀 So yes. There are many roadblocks and regulatory barriers. EU is slow. We focus too little on new innovations. But there is hope. We are still a frontrunner and biosolutions businesses are still born here. Now, let’s let them grow up here 📈 Thank you to everyone that worked with us or helped us along the way. We couldn’t have made it this far on the journey without you. And we can’t wait to continue on the same path with you 🙌🌿

European Biosolutions Coalition 🤝 Austrian Biosolutions Innovation Upon invitation by our Austrian partner Federation of Austrian Industries (IV), our director Sofie Carsten Nielsen & senior advisor Marit Hvithamar Rystrøm visited the Austrian Bioeconomy Summit held in Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart 🎶 and impressive biosolution innovations 🌱 At the summit, we had the opportunity to showcase the Coalition, outline our ambition to strengthen Europe’s sustainability, resilience and competitiveness with the ever-growing biosolutions sector and mapped the current challenges and opportunities we face in the near future 🌿📈 Austria is a green country. Literally, as 46% of the entire country is covered in forest, but also in a much deeper sense. And we were lucky to visit AustroCel Hallein GmbH and Fachhochschule Salzburg - University of Applied Sciences / Holztechnologie und Holzbau │ FH Salzburg Austrocel presented pioneering industrial scale innovations based on bio-ethanol and fermentation and they are set out to transform the industry by using every bit of the wood for innovative products and solutions. A zero waste success story and soon to become a fossil free company (has reached 97 pct already). They do as their tagline say: unlock the power of nature for a greener tomorrow 🚀 FH Salzburg work with all sorts of new bio-based materiels at their Center of Smart Materials, CO2 storing wood in all its forms as well as algae and fungi for building materials 🪵🍄 We have a long way to go and a lot we yet must achieve. But it is possible for us to act. And with our trip to Austria, our hope and commitment to the biosolutions and green agendas was yet again renewed. It is clear that their resolve, and their skill, are both as strong as ever 💪 Thank you to IV and Maximilian M. for hosting us! 🙌

Biosolu- what now? 🤔 On the one hand, biosolutions are the simplest thing in the world: When we combine biology with technology and apply nature’s own toolbox at scale, we enter the world of biosolutions. On the other hand, we get that it isn’t always the easiest field to navigate. It is uncharted territory for European regulation, after all 🇪🇺📝 But what exactly constitutes bacteria? We all have a vague idea that we shouldn’t drop food on the floor to avoid bacteria (no, the five second rule does not apply), but what are they exactly? What is beta-lactoglobulin? And wait, what are New Genomic Techniques? 🔬 It is certainly not easy to be precise, but we want to help. To navigate this field and all its complexity, we now offer a Biosolutions Glossary! 🌱 In this glossary, you’ll find definitions of everything from algae and enzymes to precision fermentation or integrated pest management. We’ve collaborated with experts to bring you the easiest to understand, yet precise, definitions of just what biosolutions consist of to help them become straightforward for everyone 🚀 And we’ve made it easy for you, as all you have to do is click here to go our website and download your copy 👉 https://lnkd.in/dkeyWCG8 Because it all starts with biosolutions

Bienvenue á vous, MEDEF! 🇫🇷 Today, the Coalition is in France to welcome our 11th partner into the Coalition: the French employers’ organization MEDEF. 🙌 “We are delighted to join the European Biosolutions Coalition, as we recognize the essential role that biosolutions play in reducing carbon emissions and fostering sustainable growth. While the Net Zero Industry Act is a positive step, we must further strengthen our efforts. Through this coalition, we aim to address the sector's specific challenges and ensure it receives the recognition and regulatory support required to make Europe a global leader in the bioindustry.” says Fabrice Le Saché, MEDEF Vice-President in charge of Europe. MEDEF is the biggest lobby representing French businesses. Acting as companies’ central voice, it is the main point of contact for decision-makers and public authorities with more than 200,000 member companies. A great majority of its members are small to medium-sized businesses. In France, more than one out of two private sector employees work for a company affiliated with their network. 📃🚀 “Welcoming MEDEF into the Coalition is an encouraging and promising next step for us. They are an impressive organisation, and their support to the biosolutions cause comes at a great time. They are experts at helping shape legislation and regulation progressively, benefiting all, and with the upcoming Biotech Act and a Europe ready for action, this is great news. Biosolutions is the bridge to the vision of a sustainable, resilient and competitive Europe, and with MEDEF, we are one step closer” states Sofie Carsten Nielsen, director of the Coalition. 🌱 We look forward to working with you, MEDEF! There’s so much to be done, and we can’t wait to get started. 🪴✨

WE NEED TO PRODUCE MORE AND TO PRODUCE LESS   Yes, this seems like quite an impossible task. Nevertheless, this is what is necessary if we want to solve our greatest challenges💡⚡️   Luckily, we’re ready to deploy many solutions to help create a food industry that is built on our planet’s premises. And this is exactly what will be discussed at the upcoming Global Dilemma Conference on the 2nd-3rd October: we face great challenges, but fortuitously, we possess great potential 🚀🔮 And the conference certainly does not lack interesting topics. Everything from regenerative farming and how soon cultivated meat will appear on our dinner table to global waste will be on the menu 🌱📈 The lineup includes our director Sofie Carsten Nielsen, who will talk about the great potential impact of biosolutions, including how Europe is already well-positioned to take advantage of their potential if we allow them to be unleashed, and help solve some of our biggest challenges. Hear more of her thoughts in the video below 👇   We can’t wait to attend the conference, be inspired with solutions regarding our dilemmas and be hopeful for a greener future. We hope to see you there! 🙌 🌟

A new vision for food and farming in Europe 🥝 🌱   Last week, President von der Leyen received the final report of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture. Peter Strohschneider’s report leaves us reason to be optimistic: the members of the dialogue have released this report with the goal of working together for a sustainable, resilient and competitive future 🌍   As President von der Leyen put it: “With this report, we have a very solid foundation for the development of a new vision for food and farming in Europe.” 🙌   We are especially happy to see the importance of the bioeconomy highlighted. Because as they rightly mention, it truly is a Swiss army knife of solutions to our challenges: it can combat climate change, promote economic development, restore our biodiversity and nature secure our geopolitical resilience 🌱 🖇   Examples of biosolutions needed are scattered throughout the report, including biocontrols such as Integrated Pest Management and New Genomic Techniques. This is vital. 🔬   By integrating these into our food production, we can create sustainable, resilient and competitive agricultural- and food sectors.   In the Coalition we are happy to see these recommendations and hopeful that the lasting change we require will happen. We will follow closely to ensure that biosolutions are part of the future vision as well as action for food and farming in Europe – to the benefit of us all 💪

“The problem is not that Europe lacks ideas or ambition” Those are the words of former EU Central Bank President, Mario Draghi, in his long-awaited report on the EU’s competitiveness, containing many interesting and ambitious proposals on how the EU can ensure its sustainability, resilience, and competitiveness in the future📄 But what is the problem then?💭 According to Draghi it is that “innovation is blocked at the next stage: it is not translated into commercialization, and innovative firms that want to scale up are hindered by inconsistent and restrictive regulations. Many European entrepreneurs prefer to seek financing from American venture capitalists and scale up in the American market”🔬 With this analysis, Draghi hits the nail on the head📍 If Europe is to keep up with the rest of the world, securing that European innovation, know-how, green jobs and growth stay in Europe, ambitious investments in sustainable solutions, such as biosolutions, are crucial. Not only can biosolutions drive economic growth and contribute to the EU’s resilience, but they also play a critical role in helping us achieve our green ambitions🌏 Therefore, regulatory changes to accelerate time to market for biosolutions and investments in testing and scaling are necessary. It is not a choice – but the right thing to do🌱 #eubiocoalition #biosolutions #greentransition #competitiveness #resilience #sustainability #eu

Redefining dairy: Innovative milk proteins, but without the cow 🥛 Danish company 21st.BIO has achieved what once seemed impossible: cow-free production of milk proteins in a bioreactor. These proteins, full of high quality nutrition, are created with less land and lower CO2 emissions, thanks to the cutting-edge biosolutions combination of fermentation and biotech 🌱🔬 Here’s the good news: It’s already been approved in the USA and it is ready to head to market. Here’s the bad news: It’s not approved in the EU even though it is ready to head to market 📉 Thomas G. Schmidt, CEO at 21st.BIO, estimates that it will take another four years to get their sustainable, cow-free version of beta-lactoglobulin approved in the EU. These regulatory barriers force such innovative solutions to look towards the US when they are ready to scale and grow their production; even though they were born in the heart of Europe 🇪🇺💙 This is troublesome. We will continuously need to serve higher demands for high quality nutrition whilst also reducing our strain on our planetary health. The companies that have these solutions, biosolutions, are here and ready, but we restrain them in their efforts to unleash their potential ❌ If this continues, the consequence will simply be that our companies will move their production out of Europe. Europe’s competitiveness is declining relative to the US and other regions, and the effect will only aggravate if we continue inaction 💶🌍 We are very happy that both the Commission, the Parliament and hopefully the Council have realized this and now want action. And we are looking very much forward to an EU Biotech Act in 2025 as promised by Mrs Ursula Von der Leyen in her political guidelines from July 🙌📝 But we are also in a hurry. Europe has almost run out of time. We must act now if we wish to support these companies born in Europe, which have built the solutions of the future, if we don’t want them to grow up elsewhere.

Today, our colleague Marit Hvithamar Rystrøm is leaving us… .. because she is going to Brussels for three months on behalf of the European Biosolutions Coalition. And there’s reason to be optimistic about what her trip will bring because her agenda has biosolutions written all over it. 🙌🇪🇺 The biosolutions world is evolving rapidly, and a lot of great things have happened since we first formed the European Biosolutions Coalition. Not least that Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a Biotech Act in 2025 in her political guidelines. 📝 With Marit sur place, we will have the opportunity advance the biosolutions agenda to our many important stakeholders in close cooperation with our partners from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Romania, and the United Kingdom. And we expect one more to join us shortly 🍀 The coalition is now ready to support and advance biosolutions in the EU, meet with our partners in the EU, attend working groups, plenaries and summits in Brussels, Copenhagen, Strasbourg and Salzburg and meetings in Paris and Poland 🇫🇷🇵🇱 This is an exciting step for us. We wish her all the best and will support her all the way 💪🌱

WHAT WILL WE CHOOSE? With the reelection of Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission, she released the political guidelines for the next European Commission in 2024-2029 titled “Europe’s Choice”. 🇪🇺 One of the most promising avenues in this vision is the possible adoption of biosolutions, because these solutions have the potential to revolutionize how we address some of our most pressing challenges. And she highlights multiple important steps: A European Biotech Act for 2025, a European Competitiveness Fund that will increase investment capacity in biotech and promises to secure Europe’s food security and biodiversity 🌱🔬 This should all significantly decrease the difficulty that currently exists in bringing biotech and biosolutions to the European market. This is critical for biosolutions: they hold vast potential to solve our greatest challenges, but until now, we’ve held them back with regulatory barriers and lack of investment opportunities. This can now change 🌾📈 As we look to the future, Europe’s choice to invest and prioritize this sector and biosolutions will be critical. Climate change mitigation, reduction of greenhouse gasses, a green and sustainable food supply and greater biodiversity will all be achieved by our choice. In the realm of agriculture, biosolutions offer the potential to increase crop yields while reducing the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, leading to healthier soils, cleaner water, and more nutritious food 🙌 The question is clear: What will we choose? By committing fully to biosolutions now, we can pave the way for a healthier planet, a thriving society and a sustainable, resilient and competitive Europe. #Biosolutions #GreenChoice #EUBioCoalition #GreenTransition